Bad 2nd period dooms Sound Tigers

Updated 11:46 pm, Sunday, March 18, 2012

WORCESTER, Mass. -- They'd prided themselves on being the hardest-working team in the AHL for a while, but the Bridgeport Sound Tigers played too soft a second period Sunday afternoon, and they're winless in their past six games.

The Worcester Sharks scored four goals in the second period and insisted they put another shot undetected through the net behind Kevin Poulin, beating Bridgeport 5-2 at DCU Center.

"I'm kind of shocked, to be honest," Bridgeport coach Brent Thompson said. "I'm disappointed in the way our team responded. It's more the inconsistency."

The Sound Tigers have lost four in a row in regulation for the first time since before Christmas.

"Good teams will battle adversity," defenseman Calvin de Haan said. "It's a good learning curve for us. It's happening at the right time of year, with 13 games left."

The Sound Tigers trail Connecticut by four points for the Northeast Division lead.

They're only three ahead of seventh-place Manchester in the Eastern Conference standings and five ahead of Worcester.

The Sharks scored their first two goals in 28 seconds, answering Matt Donovan's first-period goal.

Poulin got a piece of both shots, though Brandon Mashinter and James Livingston gained entry to Bridgeport's end with little trouble.

"The guys on the bench were kind of down a bit (after the second goal). I did it to shake it up," Thompson said. "The plan was 100 percent to come back with Poulin in the third."

The plan got pushed up: Nilsson left the game 11 minutes later after twisting an ankle on the Sharks' third goal, on which Tony Lucia was left wide open in front to shovel in a rebound.

Poulin came back in, and the Sharks scored on their first shot after that when, with Bridgeport's wingers changing behind the play, the reinforcements couldn't arrive in time to cover Sebastian Stalberg.

"If we don't work hard, we're a completely different team," said Sean Backman of Greenwich, Conn., who scored short-handed with 9:03 left in regulation. "We didn't play 60 minutes. We took a period off."

There were four fights in the first period, including one unsanctioned rematch: As Micheal Haley and Worcester's Mike Moore returned to the benches after serving their penalty time for a fight, they fought again. Both players were ejected.